A British doctor has stepped right off a plane from the UK and straight into training to become a LifeFlight critical care doctor onboard Townsville’s LifeFlight Air Ambulance jet and the AW139 Queensland Government Air (QGAir) helicopter.
Dr Matthew Mitchard will join Christer Ny, Karin Seterhed and Yazmin Symons as one of four new Townsville-based retrieval registrars, who are rescue-ready to aid communities in North Queensland.
Dr Mitchard studied and trained in medicine in London, before making the leap to Australia to challenge himself in pre-hospital care.
He said LifeFlight’s positive reputation was preceded by multiple colleagues recommending he apply for the role.
“They said they had an amazing time here and did some really awesome work,” Dr Mitchard said.
“The winch operations, HUET training and a lot of other stuff you don’t get to do in normal medical in a normal hospital are all great add-ons for me.”
It will be Dr Mitchard’s first time in Townsville, and he said the natural beauty of the area is something he’s looking forward to exploring.
“It looks like a really cool city and quite big for the area. I’ve heard a lot about Aussie crocodiles and the beaches are beautiful and there’s a place called Magnetic Island nearby that I want to go and explore; it seems pretty awesome,” he said.
“I’d love to learn to go scuba diving. That would be a big one to do.”
He’s one of 26 doctors about to head to their new bases across Queensland. But first, the new critical care doctors had to undergo a week of intensive aeromedical training at the LifeFlight Training Academy, and complete Helicopter Underwater Escape Training (HUET), rescue winching and clinical scenario training.
More than 180 medical professionals, including doctors, are employed by LifeFlight, making it the largest employer of aeromedical doctors in Australia.
LifeFlight HUET Manager Mick Dowling, said the doctors go through four scenarios in the simulator to equip them with the necessary skills to escape an underwater helicopter, in the unlikely event of a crash into water.
“Worldwide figures tell us that when an aircraft or helicopter goes into the water, it’s going to rotate over because it’s top heavy,” Mr Dowling said.
“In our simulation training, the occupants are put into a position that replicates the helicopter.
“The simulator allows us to teach them the skills to stay orientated, and once they have adopted those skills, they will have no problems finding exits.”
After been submerged, spun and lifted out of the water, the doctors took to the sky for winch training.
LifeFlight aircrew officer Brett Hansen, said the winching exercises taught doctors the vital life-saving skills needed to reach patients located in remote and often inaccessible areas.
“As a rescue organisation, winching is probably the most dangerous thing we do and it’s pretty crucial to how we operate,” Mr Hansen said.
The new critical care doctors were taken through winching individually, then in pairs and finally with a stretcher as part of the exercises.
“When operating in a confined area that we can’t land in, it’s crucial to have those skills,” he said.
The new recruits also put their pre-hospital clinical skills to the test at the Queensland Combined Emergency Services Academy at Whyte Island in Brisbane, where they participated in several high-pressure scenarios.
Each simulation was designed to mimic a real-life, worst-case scenario the doctors may be confronted with, such as a multi-casualty car crash, a house party incident and even a boating disaster.
QGAir is part of the Aviation Capability Group within the Queensland Police Service.
It has a fleet of five AW139 helicopters operating from bases in Cairns, Townsville and Brisbane, performing life-saving tasks and responding to emergencies throughout Queensland.
Townsville’s LifeFlight aeromedical crew flew 153 missions in FY24, helping 322 people and achieving a 13 per cent increase from the 284 people helped in the previous financial year.
The majority of LifeFlight critical care doctors’ work is performed on behalf of Queensland Health, tasked by Retrieval Services Queensland, within Queensland Ambulance Service.
